Box-car-door fastener



J. G. WOOD.

BOX CAR DOOR FASTENER. APPLICATION man vac-3o. 1919.

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Patentd Jan. 11, 1921.

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- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES GILLAM WOOD, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS,

BOX-CAR-DOOR FASTENER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed December 30, 1919. Serial No. 348,268.

of the standard sliding type, and embodies a fastening device applicable for use 'withthe Well known style of sliding door without necessity for changing or altering the structure of thedoor or the car in any material way. By the utilization of my invention I am enabled to securely lock or fasten the door in its frame in closed position, or the door may with equal facility be fastened securelywith relation to the car in slightly open position or ajar for purpose of ventilating the interior of the car and yet retain the door securely fastened.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of a fastener of the multiple-sliding bolt type with a series of selective, movable hasps, and a fixed hasp or keeper for the bolts, together with certain novel features of construction, as will be hereinafter more fully disclosed in the specification and claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention in which the parts are combined and arranged according to the best mode I have so far devisedforthe practical application of the principles of'the invention, and it will be exemplified structure, within the scope of my claim without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a well known type of railway car equipped with the door fastenerof my invention, the door being illustrated in closed and fastened position.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but here the door is slightly ajar for the purpose of ventilating the interior of the car, the parts however. being'securely fastened, and may be sealed in this position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing in elevation a portion of the outside of the door with the slide bolts projected and unlatched.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of ing the door fastener in understood that colorable changes and alterations may be made in the the door and accessories, on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, detail sectional view of a car side or wall illustrating the selective hasps that are used in conjunction with one of the sliding bolts, the other bolt it be ingunderstood has a fixed hasp orkeeper, the section being taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail section at line 6- 6 of Fig. 2 showing the securing latch of the fastening bolts sealed with a lock in dotted lines. o i

In carrying outmy invention and applythe type of box-car indicated by the numeral 1 in the drawings, and the sliding door 2, both of well known construction; the latter guided by the shoe 3, 3, near the lower edge of the side of the car, and suspended at jit upper end, or top, in usual manner for such sliding doors.

The members of the fastening device are jointly carried by the door and the car; on the door there being arranged in alinement,

a pair of oppositely sliding, complementary bolts 4 and 5, located, to be moved horizontally, at a convenient and accessible height on the door, to be manipulated with facility when required, and each bolt is fashioned with a bent or angular end 6 to be utilized as a lever handle when fastening or unfastoning the door closure. These bolts are cylindrical in crosssection, as for instance they mayv be made-up of round steel bars withbent inner ends, and are slidable in their supporting bearings 7, 7, and also, rotatable therein.

The inner ends of the bolts are located adjacent the vertical center line of the door, and at the proper point in alinement with the bolts, which are approximately half the width of the door, astop or abutment block 8 is secured to the door to prevent excessive or undue inward movementof thebolts, the bent lever handles being adapted to contact with or abut against the stop, as will readily be understood. a

One of the bolts, as 4, is adapted to engage and co-act with a fixed keeper 9, which may actual use, I utilize be in the form ofa perforated metallic plate,

with slightly rounded and flattened or cutaway portions 10 at the side of the bolt from which the lever handle projects. The bolts are thus specifically designed to form cam friction faces, of which the flattened portion will engage the near wall of the bolt aperture in the keeper when the bolt is inserted therein with the lever handle in outwardly projecting, horizontal position, the bolt being inserted in the keeper with the required freedom of movement. Now when the bolt is rotated and, its handle turned down to vertical position inFig. 1, the full round face of the bolt opposite the flattened face will frictionally engage the same near wall of the aperture in the keeper, thus forcing the door inwardly in alinement with the side of the car. Of course, whenthe door is suspended and sliding to closed, or partially closed position, the necessary, limited freedom of lateral movement of the door is permitted in the cleats 3, but when the closed position has been reached and the lever handle is turned down, the door is tightly jammed into the door frame 11 and thus securely held against rattling or working loose.

The oppositely working bolt 5 is adapted to co-act with a selected keeper 12, 13, 14, in a group, or the spaced outermost single hasp 15 completing the series of keepers, located at the rear end of the door and supported in the side of the car. The series of drop blocks or movable keepers for the bolt 5 are pivoted on a fixed bar or rod 16 supported inside the car wall and incased in a housing 17, slots 18 being fashioned in the car side or wall to accommodate the blocks, which are in the form of plates with a pair of perforations, one to journal the block on its bearing rod 16 and the other to receive the bolt end. The blocks are pivoted on the rod, and because of their shape, the weighted ends cause them to fall by gravity to vertical position within the housing and slot when not in use, but may with facility be pulled out to horizontal position when a selected one is to be used as a keeper for the bolt 5. In Fig. 1 the block 12 is in use and the door is fastened in entirely closed position, while in Fig. 2 the door is only partially closed, the bolt 4 being locked in its keeper 9 and the bolt 5 being secured in the block 15. In Fig. 2 the door is ajar, but fastened, to allow for ventilating the interior of the car, when necessary, for the benefit of the contents or cargo.

A specially constructed sliding latch 19 is provided for the two bolts, and is of sufficient length to contact with and retain both of the lever handles of the bolts in any of their adjusted positions, the latch being located below the bolts and in parallel rela tion thereto and supported on the door by the base plate 20 of metal and fashioned with the retaining guide loop or band 21 and guide lugs 21 shown as integral with the plate and turned to opposed positions for guiding the latch bar, and retaining it in contact with the downturned lever handles of the bolts.

The base plate may be cast, or wrought metal, but in either event is fashioned with a corrugated portion which provides grooves or recesses 22 to receive the lever handles when they are turned down to vertical position, with the door either locked or ajar, and the bolts accordingly adjusted for the purpose of fastening the door. With the lever handles positioned in their recesses, the latch 19 may slide in its base plate, over the handles and lock them against movement as shown, and the latch bar is provided with a flanged, perforated end 23, complementary to the perforated end flange 24 of the base plate in order that a sealing or locking device, indicated in dotted lines at 25 in Fig. 6, may secure the latch in closed position over the lever handles of the bolts.

If desired or required a pin 26 may be attached as by a chain at the toe of the door 2, which when not in use is retained in the keeper 27 on the door, to be inserted in a socket in the door sill when the door is held ajar, as in Fig. 2, to prevent forward jamming or movement of the door.

From the above description taken in connection with my drawings it is apparent that I have invented a car door fastening that is readily applicable for use with the ordinary style of doors and performs the functions of the set-in car doors, with great security and considerably less expense, and the close relationship provided between the closed door and the car side or door frame renders the door almost ifnot entirely weather proof. The door is securely fastened against pilfering or surreptitious opening, and as will be noted, it may be adjusted to several positions, but only one seal is required to lock the door in any of these positions, and as the door is fastened by its bolts, no strain is exerted against the seal, and consequently accidental breaking of the seal is eliminated. And as before stated, changes and alterations may be made in the construction and application here shown, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the structure shown in the drawings being merely one exemplification of the invention.

hat I claim is j 1. The combination in a car door fastening, with the door and car, of a pair of opposed slidable and rotatable bolts on the door and, securing means therefor adapted to lock either or both bolts. a fixed keeper for one bolt, and a series of selective, independently movable blocks for the other bolt.

2. The combination with the car door and gle latch for the bolts, of a fixed keeper on the car for one bolt, and a series of selective, pivoted keepers on the car for the other bolt, said keepers being independently movable by gravity to inoperative position.

3. The combination with the alined, slidable and rotatable bolts and their keepers, of a recessed base plate on the door, angular lever handles on the bolts adapted to fit into said recessed plate, and a single sliding latch for retaining either or both said handles in the recessed plate.

4:. The combination with the slidable and rotatable bolts one of which is provided with a series of selective blocks for holding the door in adjusted position, angular handles on the bolts, a recessed base plate to receive said handles, and a retaining device com mon to both said handles.

5. The combination with the alined oppositely slidable, and rotatable bolts, each having a bent end, a series of spaced, selective keepers for one of the bolts and a fixed keeper for the other bolt, whereby the door may be looked in adjusted position, said bolts each having a cut-away portion at its free end and said keepers adapted to be frietionally engaged by the cut-away portions of the bolts when they are shot and said bolts, when turned to looking position adapted to turn with a cam action in the perforated keeper, of a recessed base plate to receive said bent ends when the bolts are in locked position, and a slidable latch movable in said base plate to retain the bent ends as described.

6. The combination with the alined, oppositely slidable, and rotatable bolts, each having a bent end, a series of spaced, selective keepers for one of the bolts and a fixed keeper for the other bolt, whereby the door may be locked in adjusted position, of a recessed base plate to receive said bent ends when the bolts are in locked position, and a slidable latch movable in said base plate to retain the bent ends as described;

JAMES GILLAM WOOD. 

